


Such A Pretty Kitty

by TokyoTeddyWolf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Pidge, Avian Pidge, Beta/Alpha Keith, Companions AU over on Tumblr, Hybrids, Keith has two classifications bc he's two species, M/M, Omega Shiro, What am I doing, Wolf/Cat Keith, a/b/o dynamics, catboy Shiro, humans have no classifications, im still worldbuilding so pls be kind, more info on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-08 09:31:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11078826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TokyoTeddyWolf/pseuds/TokyoTeddyWolf
Summary: Lance had no idea what he was getting into, rescuing a Maine Coon Cat Hybrid from the alleyway next to his house, but he sure as hell refused to regret it. It was just in his nature to help any suffering creature, and the fact that this one seemed more handsome than most was certainly a plus.Though he certainly didn't count on his new companion's past to catch up with him...





	1. Chapter 1

Lance yawned as he opened to door to his house, tired after a full day of work. Allura was a slave driver, having him work the clearance floor of the fashion building. There had been a huge sale today, customers having flooded the shop and nearly cleaning it out, and not all of them were nice to him.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, shutting the door behind him. After getting changed into some sweatpants and an old t-shirt, he flopped on the couch, shutting his eyes. He got about what felt like ten minutes of blessed sleep before a crash and a yowl of pain woke him up, the lanky 25 year old man bolting upright in surprise. He got up and looked at the clock. What the fuck? Who was even awake at 4am?

With a groan, he got up and decided to investigate the sound. He shrugged on a light jacket and stepped out onto the porch, bare feet cold against the concrete. He glanced around and walked over to where a soft whimpering was coming from, the alleyway with all the trash cans.

“Hello?” He called, padding inside the alleyway, hand against the wall of his house. His eyes caught a hunched shape next to the dumpster, something big with a twitching tail and curled in on itself. Oh. 

Now that he was closer, he could see it was a Hybrid, creatures that were a common pet in this city. This one was a Cat Hybrid, with long, messy and dirty black hair and ears and a white forelock and a white tipped black tail. It was making soft, pained sounds, gripping at its right arm.

“Here kitty kitty, what’s wrong?” Lance crooned, attempting to appear as non-threatening as possible. Which wasn’t hard, he could see the muscles through the tattered shirt on the Cat Hybrid’s body, even though it looked very malnourished. He walked a little closer, trying to recall everything Hunk had told him about Cat Hybrids since the big guy worked at a shelter for all kinds of Hybrids, like Keith, a mixed breed of a Cat and a Wolf Hybrid.

The Hybrid’s head shot up, staring at him with wide, panicked silver eyes that were admittedly quite pretty. Now that he could see its face, Lance could tell the Cat Hybrid was male, and hurt too by the bloody cut across his nose. The Hybrid growled warningly, ears flattened back and tail puffed up in fear.

Lance held up his hands, palms outwards, staying calm like Hunk had taught him when handling scared Hybrids. “Woah there, Kitty, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just trying to help. Can you let me do that?” He soothed, focus entirely on the terrified Hybrid.

The growling paused for a moment, wavering, and an almost curious look flashed through those gray eyes before being replaced with more caution. Lance took a small step forward, encouraged.

“You don’t look too good there, Kitty. Want me to get you some food and a bandage for that cut on your pretty face?” He cooed, shuffling a little closer and crouching low to appear smaller, less dangerous. The Hybrid’s ears flicked, indecision flickering across his face. Lance was now close enough to reach forward with one hand, carefully.

The Hybrid leaned forward, uncurling a little to sniff at Lance’s fingers, before cautiously turning his cheek against the Cuban man’s palm before pulling back a little with a soft whine. Lance smiled gently, keeping his teeth hidden, and ran his hand over the Hybrid’s hair and ears, a small purr startling both males.

Lance spoke up again. “Hey, let’s get you into my place so we can fix you up, okay?” The Hybrid blinked, confused, but allowed Lance to pull him up and suddenly Lance had to reevaluate this because the Cat Hybrid was taller than him by a head and a lot wider than skinny little Twig Lance. Not to mention heavy! For someone so emaciated, he sure packed a lot of weight!

Lance carefully led the Cat Hybrid out of the alleyway and into his house, shutting the door quietly and tugging him into the bathroom. “Okay, I know cats hate water, but we need to get you washed and cleaned before we bandage you up.” Lance explained to the startled Cat, who was staring at his reflection in the mirror with something akin to horror.

Lance filled the bathtub with hot but not scalding soapy water, and guided the Hybrid in. The water seemed to relax the dirty kitty, and Lance easily pulled off the ragged and soon to be burned old shirt and boxers the Hybrid had been wearing, finally able to assess the damages.

The Cat was covered in old scars and new injuries, like he’d been in a fighting ring. His right arm was missing, obviously recently because the stump hadn’t healed completely and was an angry reddish purple, blotchy and clearly infected. The poor Cat was going to need a Vet, and Lance hoped Hunk would cover this. But first he had to do what he could to help, since he’d never been one to turn down a creature in need.

He set to work, using safe shampoos and soaps to clean the dirt and blood away, having to drain and refill the tub several times until the water stayed mostly clear and bubbly. The Cat Hybrid flinched with every wound wiped down, but seemed to recognize that Lance was helping him and didn’t fight back. Lance hummed to fill the silence, a soothing Spanish lullaby his Mama loved singing.

Once he finished, he rinsed the Cat one last time before leaving to grab some overly large clothes that would probably fit the huge Hybrid, which he was guessing was of the Maine Coon variety. He came back and drained the tub, tugging the relaxed kitty out and drying him off, bandaging every wound with a bandaid or gauze before helping him into soft, clean clothes that actually fit the Cat just right, if not only slightly tight.

“Okay, just a haircut and then some food, sound good?” Lance soothed, sitting the other male on the closed toilet and holding up a pair of scissors and a hair razor. The Cat eyed the items warily, but merely made a soft noise of agreement before letting his eyes fall shut. 

Lance pulled a towel over the Cat’s neck and shoulders, before setting to work snipping the long, tangled black locks of hair. He shaved away the worst of it, giving the Hybrid an undercut and leaving the top alone, trimming around the ears to a short, fluffy length and even grooming the ears and tail to get rid of the matting. The white forelock was left a little longer than the rest, since Lance found it kind of cute.

He cleared away the mess and once again tugged the Cat Hybrid by the wrist along with him to the kitchen, the poor kitty making a soft mew, a wordless question. “Food then! You look pretty hungry, kitty, and I think I still have a package of turkey somewhere.” Lance clarified, gesturing for the Hybrid to sit on the couch while he entered the kitchen to rummage around his fridge.

He came back to see the Cat Hybrid looking around curiously, tail flicking and ears up, which was definitely a good sign if he was showing interest in his surroundings. Lance gave himself a mental high five and cleared his throat lightly, gathering the kitty cat’s attention. He held up the package of turkey and had to stop himself from giggling at the way the Hybrid’s eyes lit up and ears perked, staring at the wrapped meat hungrily. His stomach let out a demanding growl too, and Lance definitely laughed then.

“Haha, okay, here you go then.” Lance chuckled, opening the plastic package and unwrapping the seal around the meat, plopping it back into the container and handing it to the Cat Hybrid.

While the cat scarfed down the meat, Lance dug his phone out of his jacket.

He had a few calls to make.  



	2. A Trip To The Vet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance takes his kitty in for a checkup.

“Lance, give me one good reason why I’m not slaughtering you right now.” Pidge grumbled, arms folded over her chest as she leaned against the pristine white wall of the Hybrids Hospital, in the room where the Cat Hybrid Lance had found a while ago was getting examined.

Lance smiled sheepishly. “Umm, because I had no idea you’d pulled an all nighter again and called you down here anyways?” He asked nervously, sweating slightly under the Halfling’s intense predatory glare. Hunk raised his head from where he was examining the Maine Coon Hybrid’s ears.

“No arguing you two. Especially not at this time of day.” The big human scolded lightly, before turning his attention to the infected stump. “Hmm… sheesh Lance, you really brought me a tough case here. This needs surgery to remove the damaged flesh and bone, and fast. You said you found him in the alleyway next to your house?” Hunk questioned, Lance nodding confirmation.

“Yeah, around 4am or so.” Lance clarified, glancing at the clock on the wall and wincing. It was 11 on a Saturday morning, and he’d been awake the entire time, cleaning up the mess in the bathroom, calling Allura to give him a week off while explaining he’d taken in a stray Hybrid, calling Hunk for a Vet appointment for said Hybrid, calling Pidge in case the Hybrid was microchipped, and researching what Hybrids were able to eat. He was nearly dead on his feet at this point.

“He doesn’t really look feral to me. Though whoever owned him previously definitely abused him, poor thing.” Hunk sighed, rubbing the Hybrid’s ears. The Cat let out a quiet, broken purr and leaned into the touch, pleased.

“Hey, I’ll pay for the vet bill, Hunk. Just make him feel better. You should have seen how scared he was of me, at first. Then once I got him a bath and some food it was like I was suddenly God to him or something, he looked so happy. I thought he was going to cry when I showed him the guest bed.” Lance muttered, remembering the look on the Hybrids face as he allowed the Cat to sleep on the mattress. He’d grown attached to the black and white Hybrid overnight, and he was considering adopting the poor thing by this point.

The Hybrid in question mewed softly, tail tip twitching while he tilted his head slightly at Lance. Hunk smiled tightly, recognizing the symptoms of Hybrid abuse quite clearly from his best friend’s words. Pidge made a gentle, distressed chirp and extended a wing to brush against her human pal’s arm reassuringly.

“Well, once Hunk fixes him up, I’ll scan for a microchip and see what bastard owned him.” Pidge murmured, before eyeing Lance suspiciously. “Dude, you look tired as fuck. Did you get any sleep last night?” The Halfling Owl asked, poking the lanky human in the stomach.

Lance blinked blearily, lightly batting Pidge’s hand away sluggishly. “I dunno, I got home around like, one in the morning? And one to four is… uh…” he narrowed his eyes in concentration, muttering quietly in Spanish under his breath before perking up again. “About three hours or less?”

Pidge squawked in alarm and Hunk’s head whipped up. “Dude! You need to go home and get some more sleep, pronto! That’s not good for your health, buddy.” Hunk cried, startling the Hybrid into a low hiss. Hunk turned to the Hybrid and rubbed his ear soothingly, relaxing the Cat back into compliance.

“Listen, Lance, I’ll get this Cat some surgery for his arm and any internal problems he might have while you go home and get some sleep. I’m guessing you already called Allura to explain why you won’t be at work today?” Hunk asked, hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow.

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I have the week off. She said I have to bring my new companion by once he’s all better though, you know how much she loves Hybrids.” He cracked a weak smile at his best friend, Pidge snickering to the side.

“Alright. Well, let’s get the big guy here prepped for surgery. Lance, would you mind helping out? I need to put him under so he doesn’t freak out when you leave.” Hunk motioned Lance over, and Pidge popped up next to the Hybrid as he was gently laid down on the bed.

“Why Lance?” Pidge questioned curiously, eyes following the twitching tail as Hunk prepared a tranquilizer.

“Cats tend to trust those who’ve fed and cleaned them more than strangers, and I want to keep him calm while I put him under. I need to do it now, otherwise we risk the Hybrid panicking and possibly worsening his injuries. So I need all his focus on Lance while I tranquilize him.” Hunk explained, moving over to the Cat in question.

The Hybrid made a questioning chirp as Lance ran his fingers through the now fluffy white forelock. 

“Hey, Kitty. Hunk’s gonna make you sleep for a little, but once you wake up I’ll be here and you’ll feel a whole lot better, okay?” Lance assured the Cat Hybrid, scratching lightly behind the soft triangle ears. 

The Hybrid smiled slightly and purred, silver eyes trusting but flickering with panic and pain when Hunk inserted the needle.

The Cat made a startled yowl, jolting away from the Vet, curling towards Lance, but the syringe had already deplunged all the way and Lance watched quietly as the Cat fell into a motionless sleep, still stroking his head. Lance sighed and pulled away regretfully, allowing Hunk to rearrange the Cat on the bed.

“Good afternoon my lads! Dr. Garrett, I believe you paged me?” A cheerful, familiar redhead nurse popped into the room, twiddling his mustache and grinning at the room inhabitants.

Hunk looked up with a smile. “Ah, Coran, perfect timing. This Hybrid is to go in for surgery, if you don’t mind calling Dr. Ryner down?” The kindly Vet asked, the nurse nodding and dashing off to find the female surgeon.

“Hey Lance, we can’t just keep calling this guy ‘The Cat’ or ‘The Hybrid’ all the time. Should we name him something to call him for now?” Pidge piped up, Lance startling out of his sleepy daze to look over at the kitty in question.

Lance hummed thoughtfully and ran his fingers through the white forelock one more time, thinking. Just then, a gentle Japanese pop song floated over the radio, and Lance was hit with an epiphany.

“How about Shiro?” He said, looking at his two friends. Pidge choked and Hunk sweated lightly in secondhand embarrassment, though for Lance or the Hybrid he didn’t really know.

“Shiro? Really, Lance? You’re calling him White in Japanese? I can’t believe how much of a weeb you are.” Pidge groaned, smacking her palm against her forehead. Hunk chuckled.

“Shiro will be fine for now, we’ll just say it’s a nickname for something.” Hunk explained as he moved around the room, putting away the medical equipment he’d used to examine Shiro, as he was now called.

“I’ll think on it more when I get home, thinking is hard when I’m half asleep.” Lance muttered, swaying.

Pidge grabbed his arm to stop him from toppling over. “I’ll drive you home. It’s a wonder you got here in the first place, half asleep with an injured Hybrid. Keys, now.” The Halfling demanded, and Lance gratefully dropped his car keys into her hands.

He took one last glance at the peaceful look on Shiro’s face though.

Lance prayed for a successful surgery, for both their sakes.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, I was not counting on anyone on Tumblr wanting more. Chapter three will be out as soon as I'm done working on Shance Fluff Week. Which might be awhile? Oh well, here's hoping. :)


	3. Vet Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good News and Bad News...

Lance woke up feeling much better than before, and stretched out in his bed with a yawn. He slid out of the sheets and padded over the the closet, checking his phone along the way.

_**Hunkulicious:**  
4:27pm: Hey Lance, the surgery went great! Stop by the hospital when you can! :D_

_**Prince Lancelot:**  
5:13pm: hey, just woke up, how's he doing? I need to go buy some stuff before I drop by to bring him home :3_

_**Hunkulicious:**  
5:16pm: he's still asleep, I have him on tranquilizers until you get here so he doesn't freak when he wakes up in an unfamiliar place with weird people. And what do you mean, bring him home?? You adopting him or smth?_

_**Prince Lancelot:**  
5:17pm: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯_

_**Hunkulicious:**  
5:18pm: LANCE_

_**Prince Lancelot:**  
5:18pm: ;)_

_**Hunkulicious:**  
5:19pm: you've been hanging around Pidge too much =_=;;_

_**Prince Lancelot:**  
5:20pm: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ_

Laughing, Lance put his phone down and went back to pulling on a fresh change of clothes. He had some shopping to do, after all.

First stop was the clothing store. He sorted through the Hybrid section first, looking for Maine Coon clothing. He selected a few soft long sleeve shirts and hoodies, as well as sweatpants and boxers specifically tailored to a Cat Hybrid like Shiro. He figured the Cat would appreciate softer clothing than the weird purple shirt and black boxers he'd been found in.

After that he picked out some clothes for himself and paid before lugging it all to his car.

His next stop was the grocery store. If he was going to let Shiro live with him, he'd best stock up so that the starving kitty could eat as he pleased.

Once he'd gotten everything done, he hurriedly put everything away inside his house, food in the fridge and Hybrid clothes in the guest room drawers.

He texted Hunk to let him know he was on his way and stepped on the gas. His phone chimed with two new messages, one an acknowledgement from the Vet and another from Pidge saying she had something to show him at her place.

He pulled up to the hospital and jogged inside, Coran already waiting for him by the reception desk. "Room 524, Hunk's weaning him off the tranquilizers now." The mustached man directed, Lance nodding his gratitude and hurrying inside the elevators.

He stepped into the room, fingers crossed. Hunk was examining a chart, face pulled into a slight frown. Shiro was asleep on the bed, bandaged up and peaceful.

"Hey, Hunk. How's he doing?" Lance asked, sliding the door shut behind him. Hunk looked up and smiled slightly.

"You look better." The Vet commented, lowering the chart to eye his friend approvingly.

Lance chuckled. "Thanks, but I'm more interested in how Shiro's doing." He asked, noticing the flicker of unease in Hunk's eyes. "Hunk? Is something wrong?" The smile dropped from Lance's face, and blue eyes scanned worriedly over the Cat Hybrid.

"Well... Shiro was definitely abused. Badly. In fact, I think he was part of one of those underground fighting rings, Lance. He's at least twenty seven, and he's an Omega. But there's no sign of any sexual abuse, so my guess is he got away before they tried anything. If he's lived this long, he was probably one of their top fighters." Hunk listed off grimly.

Lance frowned. "That's... not good. Do you think they'll come for him? His old owners?" He asked, concerned for the Cat Hybrid he'd gotten attached to in such a short time.

Hunk shook his head. "I doubt it. In fighting rings, the prime fighting age is between the years of thirteen and twenty-five. If he hadn't escaped he'd either have been put in a Hybrid mill or killed. Poor guy... he's been through a lot, if all the scars I saw were any indication."

Lance moved over to brush his fingers against Shiro's forelock. "Well, I'm definitely keeping him now. He deserves better. When I gave him a bath and some food it was like I'd hung the moon for him, Hunk. Nobody, not even a Hybrid, should go through something as terrible as a fighting ring for the amusement of others." He growled, free hand clenching into a fist.

His fingers brushed against Shiro's cheek, and the Cat Hybrid's eyes slowly fluttered open. Lance quickly changed his facial expression to a kinder one, not wanting to scare the injured Cat.

"Hey kitty, feeling better?" Lance prodded carefully, relief at the soft smile and nod he got in return flooding his chest.

Checking his chart, Hunk hummed idly and scribbled something down. "I'd like him to stay one more night here to make sure he doesn't get a fever and that his arm heals properly. Sickness caused by infection often shows up when the body relaxes and lets its guard down. It's just a precaution."

Lance nodded. "Hear that buddy? You need to stay here and rest for a little while, okay? I'm gonna go and run a few more errands but I will be _right back._  I _promise._ " He soothed, ruffling Shiro's forelock affectionately, eliciting a happy purr from the Hybrid.

He pulled away and began to leave. "Hunk will take good care of you and make you feel better, okay? I'll be back."

As he headed to his car, he wondered what Pidge wanted to show him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _From under a pile of rubble called writer's block, a dusty chalk covered hand barely manages to push this chapter towards you. The writer isn't entirely happy with it, but it's all she's got for now. She apologizes and hopes you enjoyed the short chapter._

**Author's Note:**

> This….. got waaaaaaaayyy out of control…… it was supposed to be a small fluffy fic and I turned it into some angst? And yes, Shiro is the nameless Hybrid. I don’t suppose you’d want more, maybe? I mean I wouldn’t mind making more? Gah- I need to stop making all these AU’S, my brain is out of control ;0;


End file.
